Saturday, July 05, 2008

New abuses for Iraqi women

On the front page of today's New York Times, Alissa J. Rubin offers "Despair Drives Suicide Attacks by Iraqi Women." Strip away the US military nonsense (apparently provided by an unnamed 'military analyst') and Iraqi MP Sajar Qaduri and you've got a pretty solid article.

"Our Oriental society is not like your Western society. It seems in many of these cases the women have had their husband killed or sent to prison and she feels she has no choice, she is very depressed," declares Qaduri early on, making some sense in the second sentence but, by the end of the article, it's all about "husbands killed." That's problematic for a number of reasons but let's focus on that nonsense of different societies.

The response to occupation is not "different." Whether it's Northern Ireland, Palestine, Iraq or elsewhere, the response is always the same and best summed up by Jackson Browne in his song "Lives In The Balance" -- "And a people who finally can't take anymore so they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone." There is nothing unique to what Brecht charted long ago in "Pirate Jenny." It's an idiotic statement but one that people will probably murmur in agreement with and that really is Qaduir's hopes.

As the article continues, she pushes the notion of profiling women and laments that they can't be "detained" (imprisoned) only from a profile. But if she can't imprison them, she can create "homes" and "shelters" to "put them in". Consider them pretty prisons. And by not calling them prisons, Qaduir may be able to circumvent the remnants of a legal system in Iraq. "It's for your own good," they could tell these 'sick' women -- when the only sickness is the occupation itself.

Qaduir is a quack who wants to use her psuedo 'understanding' to crack down on women. If there's anything worse than your husband being imprisoned in the illegal maze or being killed, it has to be dealing with that while you're farmed out to a detention center posing as 'care'.

The reality is that the response of Iraqis to resist the occupation is a normal response and all the more so when someone they have loved is killed. Want to end 'sucide bombings'? End the illegal war. A condition that's developed from the sickness of the Iraq War will be 'treated,' if Qaduir gets her way, by divorcing it from the very cause and treating the women's response as abnormal when what happened to their husbands was the abnormal thing. Instead, Qaduir's accepting as 'normal' the illegal war, the occupation that goes along with it and all the violence involved. The only 'abnormal' thing to her is that some women might respond in violence. Imagine what she would have recommended for American woman participating in the Revolutionary War.

Qaduir is not the 'fixer,' she is part of the problem. (And apparently the Jane Harman of the Iraqi Parliament.) With all the women and children in Iraq who are homeless, the fact that she wants to create detention centers (posing as 'shelters') to imprison women who fit her profile while ignoring those very much in need of an actual shelter says a great deal.

And she can try to cut off debate with all her claims of 'different' societies until she's blue in the face but she's targeting a group for imprisonment out of her own fear. That's not all that 'different' than the round ups Bully Boy launched of Arab-Americans after 9-11.

The problem is not women whose lives are destroyed resisting the ongoing occupation, the problem is the Iraq War. If "Dr." Qaduri wants to 'treat' something, she might try addressing that instead of attempting to round up widows due to Qaduri's own fear and derangement. Her profile not only reflects the 'US military analysis,' it appears to have been handed her to her by the US military.

Well, gee Qaduri, if 'radicals' and 'terrorists' are reaching out to Iraqis, maybe your problem is that the central government (a puppet government) does nothing to help Iraqis?

If she was truly so alarmed for Iraqi women, she could be advocating for real centers that would make a difference in Iraqi women's lives. But she's not interested in centers or shelters, just in the facade of them that will allow other Iraqis to be imprisoned. Imagine the results that would have.

Someone -- US military, Iraqi forces -- comes to you and tells you that your husband has just been killed (or imprisoned) and along with have to deal with that, you also have to think, "They're going to round me up!"

What an idiot, Qaduir is. She'll make Iraq 'safer' by locking everyone up. The pot's already boiling and the lid's about to blow off but Qaduir is devising additional ways to stoke the tensions.

Rubin's article notes that 43 women are thought to have been suicide bombers since the start of the illegal war and that, so far this year, "11 of the 20 suicide bombings" are thought to have been done by women. (And, as the article notes, some women did not detonate bombs, a remote control device was used. Women being targeted -- as one who went to a police station seeking protection -- goes to the realities that imprisoning widows will never 'fix.')

43 bombings over five years is not a huge number when you realize that it's a rare day when multiple bombings don't explode throughout Iraq. It is hardly an 'epedimic.' And, again, it's not an unusal response to an occupation. That's before you even factor in how many of the 43 women willingly (or knowingly) wore bombs?

The US military's numbers (an undercount more than likely) place December 2006 as one of the 'low' months for bombings in Iraq and they count 65 for that month. (There isn't a breakdown as to 'sucide' bombings -- but there couldn't be -- whether it's a car bombing or a person, they don't know whether the person with the bomb knew it was there.)

63 months have been registered in the illegal war (we're in the 64th). Taking the low number of 65 (the US military counts over 80 in April 2007), and multiplying it by 63 gives you 4095 bombings. 43 is not really a large number in that context.

Regarding e-mails to the public account, it's a laugh filled browse through. Apparently, non-Democrats who thought they could pose as Democrats, inject themselves into a Democratic primary, lie for Barack and against Hillary, think there's some sort of armistice that must take place. Not on my end. Quit asking for highlights. You burned that bridge during the primary. Not just by your vile and disgusting attacks on Hillary (most laughable is the Closet Communist who focused on sick fantasies about Hillary's 'bedtime' behavior and thinks I would give a damn after that about anything) but by pretending you were Democrats. I'm happy to highlight Communists, Socialists, Greens, Democrats. It's all part of the left. But I don't highlight known liars and while you could stay in your political closets all you wanted when you stayed out of political primaries, when you decided to pass yourself off as Democrats, tried to trick people into believing that lie (and many did believe it), you lost any chance of ever being highlighted here again. I see an e-mail from the Closeted Communist who wanted to argue with Ava and insult her back in January. Strange, CC doesn't apologize today. Or mention that Ava was exactly right about the Latino vote in California. CC in NYC just knew better than Ava, as a White. (non-practicing) Jew in Brooklyn, how Latinos in California would vote. Didn't matter that Ava actually lives in California, didn't matter that Ava's a Latina. From Brooklyn, CC could see all and know all. Of course, as it turned out, Ava called California's vote (and the Latino vote) 100% correctly. And, repeating, CC never e-mailed to say, "Ava, you were right, I was wrong." (When Ava, in a polite reply, noted that this community did not support Barack, CC fired back that "all people of color" supported Barack and that Ava was "just another White racist who wouldn't allow any non-White, non-Anglo man" -- note the "man" -- "to get ahead. And you know nothing about Hispanics. I encounter Hispanics in my daily life!" Ava stopped being nice at that point and informed deluded in Brooklyn that she was corresponding with a non-Anglo and that her crap might work in The People's Republic of Brooklyn, but it wasn't going to play far outside of it. Those exchanges, by the way, are pinned on the wall above this computer monitor, for when I need a good laugh.) In fact, after CC was revealed to be not so psychic, we never heard from that CC again. Now she's back wanting a highlight. Not happening. In her case, it's not only the fact that she posed as a Democrat, it's also the fact that she was flat out rude and insulting to Ava and, prior to that, she needed some advice on raising her profile which Rebecca was kind enough to give out for free. (Rebecca's field was p.r., she gave expert advice at no-cost.) After Rebecca went through what to do at great length, the woman did follow Rebecca's advice, but she never wrote back to say "thank you" or even acknowledge that Rebecca had been more than gracious. I don't tolerate bad manners anymore than I tolerate political closets. There is no armistice, there is no amnesty. Those who pretended to be Democrats because they loved Barack Obama (or just wanted to tear apart the Democratic Party) will not be linked to here again. I don't promote known liars. And if you were affiliated with a group or the leader of a group, they're days of promotion vanished with your 'antics.'

But considering that 23 CCs wrote in this morning, apparently July 4th is followed by Forgiveness Day? If so, it's not marked on my calendar and, even if it was, I wouldn't choose to celebrate. You made your sick beds, lie in them.

Declare your independence from the flip-floppers McCain and Obama.Drop $4 now on Nader/Gonzalez for the Fourth of July weekend.Thank you.As you enjoy your Fourth of July weekend with friends and family, keep an eye on Nader/Gonzalez:Ralph Nader will appear on CNN and C-Span this weekend.Steve Scully's interview of Ralph will run on C-Span twice on Sunday night at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. EST. You can also watch on line now here.CNN's Rick Sanchez interview with Ralph will run on Saturday night.Ralph is a huge sports fan. Check out Dave Zirin's recent interview with Nader on sports here.And Dan Patrick's Sports Illustrated interview here.When Ralph Nader was growing up in Winsted, Connecticut, his hero was Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig. Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse for his stamina and persistence. (Now you know where Ralph gets it.)Ralph is campaigning in Hawaii this weekend. See story here.Nader/Gonzalez will be on the ballot in Nevada. See story here.We here at the Nader/Gonzalez campaign are pumped about the possibilities this summer.Ralph is polling at 6 percent.We'd like to bump it to ten percent and get Ralph into the Presidential debates.We're shooting for 45 states by September.And the possibilities of a three way race.Two flip floppers.And the real deal.So, drop four dollars now on the real deal.And declare your independence from the flip-flopping, corporate controlled McCain and Obama.Together, we are making a difference.Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.OnwardThe Nader Team

Except for the photo, that was in yesterday's snapshot but Micah and Howard both e-mailed to say that was Nader's best non-official picture.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.